Seton Hall is poised for a record year. With one of the best starts in this decade, they couldn’t knock two giant birds with one stone with a victory on the road tonight. Not only would they snap their 4-game losing streak on the road vs the Golden Eagles, but they would also solidify the program’s best start since the 1992-93 season, when they went 13-1 to start.
Marquette, however, is on the opposite end of the graces this year. They are definitely missing their key players who graduated last year, with only five wins on the season, none in conference. Furthermore, there was a recent development with Junior, Zaide Lowery, who is suddenly not with the Men’s Basketball program anymore. Luckily for Coach Smart, the two freshmen, Nigel James Jr. and Adrien Stevens, are perfect fits for the program. Their development has been crucial this year, but it is clear that the Golden Eagles need to course-correct a few things, like their worst in conference missed layups (13.8) per game, if they are to prevent one of their worst records in 30 years.
A very quick foul sent Hamilton to the line, but he missed one of two. Both teams came out of the gate tenacious on defense, not allowing any easy buckets. Seton Hall is very patient on offense, waiting for the best opportunity. Marquette is getting plenty of shots off, but none are falling. S Jones snaps Marquette’s scoring drought with a nice pump-fake setup, up 3. After about 5 minutes of play, the score is just 4-7. McCray-Staton hits a highly contested 3. Ross goes up for a dunk but gets blocked. Owens gets fouled and goes to the line, missing both of his, putting Marquette at 1-4 total free throws so far. Halfway through the 1st half, and the most significant difference is in the rebounding, with Seton Hall having over double the rebounds Marquette does. After the break, Robbie Gold found his spark with three consecutive baskets, along with Parham’s bucket, and the Golden Eagles took a 5-point lead, forcing the Pirates to call a timeout. With that timeout, they brought back the intensity on defense and closed ranks quickly. Both teams are now showing a full-court press and keeping it throughout the half. Both teams trade very tough baskets, slowly racking up the fouls. After 5 minutes of back and forth, the half ends 38-39, Golden Eagles by one.
Shaka’s adjustments at halftime seem to have his team playing with much more aggression, attacking the lanes and moving the ball much more quickly. Coach Shaheen Holloway appears to have taken quite a different approach with the Pirates, taking their time in the back court before finding the open man. With many forced turnovers, the Pirates seemed to have the better idea coming out of the locker room, retaking their lead with 16 minutes left. Unfortunately for Seton Hall, the game didn’t end there. Marquette proceeded to stop them dead in their tracks and go on the largest run of the game (16-0) to take the largest lead of the game, going up 60-50. This lit a fire under the Pirates, who answered with their largest run of the season, cutting the lead to one basket. Parham makes a 3 with two people closing on him, and the crowd erupts as this battle continues to excite. The two teams kept the press all half and would not give up the hard-nose basketball to make it a game until the very end, when Seton Hall took the lead with just over a minute to play, and held it to get the Victory (79-73).
KNUCKLEBALL PRIME TIME PLAYER OF THE GAME
After the game we had a chance to talk to Ben Gold and Coach Shaka Smart. Ben’s biggest thing he thought they could’ve improved to prevent the 7 point lead loss was playing together and playing close. He emphasized the missed layups, again a large factor in loss combined with the lack of aggressive play at the end. When asked about Stephon Payne, who finished with 22 rebounds, he said “Payne” wasn’t a crazy, big, guy, but he was a threat all over the court. Coach Smart complimented Seton Hall on the way they fought on the offensive glass and admitted that his team did not do a good enough job taking care of the ball and avoiding bad fouls. When asked how they could prevent the game slipping, he responded with ,”Clarity”. Knowing what their gameplan is and sticking to that when things get chaotic was a major point of his, that he says experience will be the best teacher. Marquette looks to turn things around November 3rd when they take on UAlbany.
The Barn 